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 Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Family Tree Maker 2010 Released
Posted by Diane
Capturing your family’s story in a meaningful way appears to be the focus of updates to Family Tree Maker 2010, released today from Ancestry.com.
New and improved features to this popular genealogy software will help you build your family tree, record memories, and organize photos, stories, videos and audio clips so you can more easily share your family's story.
More specifically, the updates include
- better tools to create family books from information and photos in your tree
- the ability to create and export slide shows from photos in your tree
- scanner support that lets you add photos to your tree right from your scanner and organize them into categories at the same time
- the ability to track relatives’ migration paths by mapping locations of events such as births, marriages and deaths with Microsoft Bing Maps
- an improved relationship calculator that lets you view relationships between any two people in your tree
- a new timeline report and updates to the family group sheet and genealogy reports
- standard source templates that make it easier to cite a variety of types of sources
- extended-family birthday and anniversary calendars
Like previous versions, when you’re connected to the Internet, Family Tree Maker 2010 automatically searches genealogy databases on Ancestry.com for records about people in your family tree. You need an Ancestry.com subscription to view any matching documents.
See an overview and screenshots of Family Tree Maker 2010 here. You can purchase it online for $39.95 (includes a two-week Ancestry.com trial subscription); shipping is free for a limited time. There's no upgrade option. (Clarification here in response to a comment: There's not a lower-price version on the Ancestry.com Web site for 2009 users looking to upgrade, but yes, you can upgrade from 2009 to 2010.)
The software also will be available in stores.
Ancestry.com | Genealogy Software
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 4:57:44 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00) 
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Thursday, August 13, 2009
Free Genealogy Software Adds Maps, Albums and More
Posted by Diane
Family and genealogy Web site MyHeritage.com released an updated version of its free, downloadable of Family Tree Builder software that lets users create maps, chat with relatives and organize multimedia albums.
According to MyHeritage, Family Builder is the world’s most popular free family tree software, with more than 5 million downloads. It's available in 35 languages, which certainly makes it attractive to a worldwide audience.
Key features in the new release include:
- a map module that lets you display where your family lived over the years, map relatives’ addresses and quickly find your photos associated with a particular place
- a new toolbar that provides direct access to family Web sites on MyHeritage; birthday reminders; and a text, audio and video chat system called Family Chat
- an improved album lets you organize photos, videos and documents, and adds slide shows
Family Builder runs on Windows. If you've used it, click Comments and let us know what you think.
Genealogy Software | Genealogy Web Sites
Thursday, August 13, 2009 2:17:24 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Thursday, April 23, 2009 Monday, April 20, 2009
Can Genealogy Web Sites Make it Easier to Cite Sources?
Posted by Diane
Wouldn’t it be great if you could find information about your ancestor on a database site such as Ancestry.com, FamilySearch or Footnote, and just click to add the ancestor information and a properly formatted source citation to your genealogy software? Mark Tucker, the software architect who blogs at Think Genealogy, says the technology exists to make this happen. He created a video to prove it. It sure looks simple: On a sample Web site he'd set up, Tucker clicks a "quick citation" link next to digitized pages from a family history book. Then, switching back to his RootsMagic 4 software, he shows how the source citation and information about his ancestor has been automatically exported to the software. (Tucker says this also could work in Family Tree Maker 2009 and Legacy
Family Tree 7.) At the end of the video, he encourages you to contact database companies you use to encourage them to adopt this easy method of source citation. You also can take a survey about your source citation needs.
Genealogy Industry | Genealogy Software | Videos
Monday, April 20, 2009 1:34:15 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Wednesday, March 25, 2009
RootsMagic 4 Officially Launches
Posted by Diane
Genealogy Software
Wednesday, March 25, 2009 4:34:02 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
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Thursday, March 12, 2009
FamilySearch Names Winning Genealogy Programs
Posted by Diane
FamilySearch has announced the winners of its new genealogy software award program. To be eligible, programs had to be compatible with FamilySearch’s
Application Programming Interface (API), which allows developers to
make their programs work with the FamilySearch site (including the
“New Family Search” online tree-building tool, now being gradually
rolled out to LDS members). The 2009 FamilySearch Software Award winners, which include desktop programs, online tools and developers’ tools, were named last night at the FamilySearch Developers Conference in Provo, Utah. Here's the list (click a program’s name to visit its Web site): Desktop ProductivityAncestral Quest (Incline Software): Best Listing Tool FamilyInsight (Ohana Software): Best Standardizer RootsMagic 4 (RootsMagic): Best Dashboard Desktop Syncing or Tree-CleaningAncestral Quest (Incline Software): Most Comprehensive Syncing FamilyInsight (Ohana Software): Best Person Separator RootsMagic 4 (RootsMagic): Easiest to Sync Desktop Use of MediaCharting Companion (Progeny Software): Best for Desktop Printing Web ProductivityGrow Branch (US Family Tree): Best Web Site Feature for Publishing (LDS Church members can use this service to submit ancestors for temple work.) Web Use of MediaGeneration Maps: Best Web Site Feature for Printing TreeSeek: Best Web Site Feature for Mapping (requires users to have a “New Family Search” account) Developers Choice AwardsDavid Pugmire’s fsapi.net: Best API Library Ben Godard’s fs-ubiquity: Potential Future Impact on the Genealogy Industry See FamilyTreeMagazine.com's genealogy software guide for information desktop programs for Mac and Windows.
FamilySearch | Genealogy Software
Thursday, March 12, 2009 3:05:39 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
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Thursday, March 05, 2009
RootsMagic 4 Public Beta Test Launched
Posted by Diane
RootsMagic has announced a public beta test of RootsMagic 4 genealogy software (for Windows). During the beta period, which until March 31, you can download and try out the software free. RootsMagic president Bruce Buzbee calls version 4 “the biggest release in our 20-year history of making genealogy software.” New features include integrated web searching, improved source citation, sharing events among multiple persons, creating pre-defined groups of persons, person and place mapping, recording DNA tests and improved navigation and data entry. RootsMagic 4 includes RootsMagic To-Go, which lets you install the program onto a USB drive, transfer data between it and your computer, and take your data with you anywhere. (Look for our article on running genealogy software from a flash drive in the May 2009 Family Tree Magazine.) The program can directly import data from Personal Ancestral File, Family Tree Maker (through version 2006), Family Origins and Legacy Family Tree. It’s certified to work with “New FamilySearch,” FamilySearch’s Web-based program that’s being rolled out to LDS churches and will eventually be publicly available. See an in-depth rundown of new features on the RootsMagic blog. Click here to register for the beta version; you'll get an e-mail with a link and registration key. Addition: I asked Buzbee what happens when your RootsMagic 4 beta version expires. After March 31, the beta version reverts to a trial version, which has some disabled features and limits the amount of information you can enter. If you want to save what you entered in the beta version, you should export a GEDCOM before March 31.
Genealogy Software
Thursday, March 05, 2009 1:30:40 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
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Friday, November 21, 2008
Target Carries UK-Based Genealogy Software
Posted by Diane
Genealogy software Family Historian, which released version 3 earlier this year, is now available stateside at 1,500 Target stores (but not through Target.com, it appears), as well as at Micro Center and Fry's. The software, from British-based Calico Pie, Ltd., is known for its family tree charts and diagrams, particularly the unique “All Relatives” diagram that even includes in-laws, and the “Everyone” diagram that shows everyone in your file and their relationships. You can browse and edit individual files using diagrams. With Smart Trees, you hide, show, move, resize and re-order people and branches, and watch the trees adjust themselves to reflect your changes. Family Historian claims to be the only program that’s 100 percent GEDCOM compatible and “GEDCOM complete”—meaning it saves and reads all fields in a GEDCOM file. (GEDCOM is the standard file format for genealogy software.) The program runs on Windows 98 and higher. It's available as a $56 download through the manufacturer's Web site. If you buy the boxed CD at US retailers (blogger Dick Eastman found it at his Target for $49.99; it's $69.99 on the Micro Center and Fry's Web sites), you get a 6-month membership to World Vital Records and a CD on doing genealogy online. You can try out Family Historian with a free 30-day trial. Randy Seaver at the Genea-Musings blog has been reporting on his Family Historian test drive in a series of posts, starting here.
Genealogy Software
Friday, November 21, 2008 7:11:53 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
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Thursday, October 02, 2008
Genealogy Software News: User Reviews, AGES-Online, Family Tree Maker
Posted by Allison
A few software tidbits that came across our desktops recently: - Wonder about other family historians’ opinions of the genealogy software you’re considering buying? Take a peek at Genealogy Software Reviews, a site dedicated to evaluations by average users.
It works much like the customer review sections on Amazon.com and other e-tailers: Users rate a product from one to five stars based on how much they use it and like it, as well as write comments about the software—which range from a sentence to several paragraphs (in general, don’t expect in-depth analysis).
Genealogy Software Reviews covers the full gamut of family tree software: full-featured programs, add-ons, freeware, shareware, more than 360 programs in all (who knew so many existed?). That does include some long-defunct programs, such as ROOTS and Ultimate Family Tree. We suggest searching for a particular program, or filtering by category to browse the type of program you’re interested.
- Web-based genealogy software AGES-Online has improved the system so you can more easily collaborate with others on building your tree: You can now set up additional users within your account, and specify the level of access you want each one to have for adding and editing data. AGES offers a free 30-day trial, with subscription plans ranging from $39.95 to $109.95 a year.
- Several folks have inquired about how to get their free upgrades to Family Tree Maker 2009. I did a little digging on the Ancestry corporate blog, and learned that registered version 2008 users were supposed to receive an e-mail with a download code for their free upgrade—but comments on the company blog and message boards indicate some didn’t receive their invitations.
A thread on the Ancestry blog says, “If you registered a US or Canadian 2008 version of Family Tree Maker and didn’t receive the email … please let us know here in a comment.” So post there, and if you don’t get a response within a few days, we suggest contacting that company directly at (800) 262-3787.
Genealogy Software
Thursday, October 02, 2008 3:44:35 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Friday, August 29, 2008
Family Tree Maker 2009 Released
Posted by Diane
The Generations Network just announced the release of Family Tree Maker 2009. It’s largely version 2008 with all its patches plus improved functionality, but it does have some new features. Those include charts and reports, such as hourglass, bowtie (shown below), 180-degree fan and others (in case you’re wondering, there’s no need to be signed up with Ancestry Publishing to generate these reports).  Automatic backups and more-powerful global data manipulation are other updates. See the full list of new features. Several patches are planned for Family Tree Maker 2009 that'll add book-building, better integration with the subscription data service Ancestry.com, an improved relationship calculator and more. Senior product manager Michelle Pfister says planning these patches will let TGN stick to a regular schedule of new releases (which retail distributors require) while putting final touches on what's covered in the patches. It also lets Family Tree Maker fans look forward to more features throughout the year. Are there Family Tree Maker fans left after the problems many users had with version 2008? Yes, say Pfister and the software's development manager Mark LeMonnier. More than 300 users beta tested version 2009—an increase over version 2008 testers—and you can expect better functionality as a result, says LeMonnier. “Performance and stability have been our main focus,” he adds. The 2009 version will read Family Tree Maker files back to version 4 (which takes you to the mid-1990s). To learn more about it, see FamilyTreeMaker.com. If you purchased Family Tree Maker 2008, don’t buy version 2009—registered 2008 users are eligible to upgrade for free. If that’s you, during early to mid-September, you’ll receive an e-mail with instructions and a coupon code good for 2009 in the Ancestry store. The offer will be available for a limited time, but Pfister says there'll be follow-up e-mails, so if you just ordered 2008, you still have time to register the software and be eligible for the free upgrade. Get more information on the free upgrade offer on Ancestry.com’s blog. (By the way, note Family Tree Magazine is not affiliated with Family Tree Maker software.) Here are a couple more Family Tree Maker 2009 views:  The people and family view  A family tree report you can generate
Ancestry.com | Genealogy Industry | Genealogy Software
Friday, August 29, 2008 2:57:53 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Family Tree Maker 2009 Coming Soon; '08 Users Can Upgrade Free
Posted by Diane
An Ancestry.com spokesperson confirmed blog reports (found here and here) of the impending release of Family Tree Maker 2009 and free upgrades for registered users of version 2008. Public relations manager Anastasia Tyler says the 2009 version of the widely used genealogy program is scheduled for release Sept. 3, which coincides with the upcoming Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference. Amazon.com, where you can pre-order the software in packages priced from $29.99 to $99.99, has given the release date as Aug. 26, as have other bloggers. Tyler also said registered 2008 users will have the opportunity to receive free upgrades—so make sure you’ve registered your software. She didn’t elaborate on new or updated features, but Dick Eastman posted a description he found online (I couldn’t find that page on FamilyTreeMaker.com—if you can, help a girl out and post a comment with a link). Update: A reader located the info on version 2009—thanks, Linda!
Ancestry.com | Genealogy Software
Wednesday, August 20, 2008 4:33:04 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Tuesday, July 08, 2008
It's Getting Crowded In Here ...
Posted by Diane
There’s another Insider in the genealogy blogging world: Bruce Buzbee of the genealogy software company RootsMagic started his blog with a post called "The RootsMagic 'Insider.'" He also announces "RootsMagic 4 is coming," which we didn’t doubt, but he sorta leaves us hanging on when. He does promise it’ll be the biggest upgrade ever, and all the changes will be revealed on the RootsMagic blog—in reverse order of magnitude. The marketing brilliance is blinding! We'll be paying attention. He also included a good video about how to subscribe to blogs using a blog reader.
Genealogy Software
Tuesday, July 08, 2008 9:02:44 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Tuesday, March 18, 2008
News From the BYU Computerized Genealogy Conference
Posted by Diane
Family Tree Magazine’s contributing editor and technology guru Rick Crume crashed the Brigham Young University Computerized Genealogy Conference last weekend in Provo, Utah. He reports more than 700 attendees absorbed nearly 100 presentations and explored a large exhibit area. Here's what Rick had to say about developments he uncovered there: FamilySearch makeover updateThe revamped Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Family History Library Web site, still in the testing stage, is gradually being rolled out to the church’s temple districts around the world. It’ll be open to the general public once data security issues are addressed. “New” FamilySearch offers collaboration, multimedia and improved searching. It’ll attempt to consolidate all the family information located in several databases on “old” FamilySearch. As a shared database open for users to collaborate on, the new FamilySearch is fundamentally different from the current site, which doesn’t let you alter data someone else submitted. You’ll be able to submit information to the new site in GEDCOM format, but you can’t download data as a GEDCOM. Working with other service providers is the new site’s strong suit. Several genealogy programs, including Ancestral Quest, Legacy Family Tree and RootsMagic (but not Family Tree Maker or FamilySearch’s own Personal Ancestral File), will let you synchronize the family files on your computer with New FamilySearch. And you’ll be able to use these programs free at Family History Centers for three years. Progeny’s Charting Companion utilities will combine family information from the renewed site with photos from another site to create a photo family tree chart. And Generations Maps will let you order a chart made from names on the new FamilySearch. Work is underway to digitize the Family History Library’s collection. FamilySearch Labs' Record Search already lets you search millions of indexed names. How many searches was that?Tim Sullivan, president and CEO of The Generations Network, rattled off a string of statistics on his company, whose divisions include Ancestry.com, RootsWeb, MyFamily.com and Genealogy.com. Amazingly, Genealogy.com still ranks as the third most popular genealogy Web site, even though TGN virtually abandoned the site after acquiring it several years ago. Sullivan noted Ancestry.com processes 20 million search requests a day. TGN has invested almost $69 million to digitize records over the past 10 years; $10 million a year now goes toward digitization. In the works: scanning some of the National Archives’ 9 billion undigitized documents. Sullivan emphasized RootsWeb will remain free despite the change in its domain name to rootsweb.ancestry.com. From the genealogy social networking front ...Genealogy social networking sites are multiplying like crazy. Geni now has a million registered users. A new entrant in the field, Family Pursuit, lets you and your relatives use a Web-based genealogy program to collaborate on family history research. Findmypast.com’s upgraded online family tree, PedigreeSoft, will debut in two or three months with a new URL, www.familytreeexplorer.com. And some new products and services
- Family Photoloom, which should be available this month, lets you tag faces in photos and link them to genealogical data
- Heritage Collector lets you organize your digital photos, label people in them and create family history scrapbooks
- Biographywiki.com is a wiki that accepts biographies of anyone, famous or not, but the person must be deceased
- USFamilyTree.com, coming in April, aims to make tracking down your ancestors’ descendants more efficient.
Genealogy Events | Genealogy Industry | Genealogy Software | Genealogy Web Sites
Tuesday, March 18, 2008 8:34:26 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
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Thursday, February 28, 2008
Get a Taste of MacFamily Tree
Posted by Diane
Synium Software has released a beta version of MacFamily Tree 5.1, which you can download as a demo. It’ll be available as a final version in early March. MacFamily Tree 5 debuted in late 2007 for $49. The 5.1 update adds a customizable fan chart, a Media Browser photo gallery, and a more user-friendly interface in the Person, Family, Source and Event edit modes.” Look for our article on Mac genealogy programs in the July 2008 Family Tree Magazine, on newsstands and FamilyTreeMagazine.com May 13.
Genealogy Software
Thursday, February 28, 2008 3:09:46 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
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Sunday, February 10, 2008
News and Notes from the Family History Expo
Posted by Allison
The first day of MyAncestorsFound’s Family History Expo 2008 saw a flurry of activity in the exhibit hall—here at the Family Tree Magazine booth, I barely had a moment to catch my breath. But today I had the opportunity to cruise the hall and learn about new developments in the industry. The buzzword for this event has been “New FamilySearch”—referring to the highly anticipated revamp of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ genealogy Web site, which is scheduled to go public in early 2009. Several classes focused on how the new system works, and what it means to genealogists. Developers from AncestralQuest, PAFInsight and RootsMagic genealogy software gave demos on how their programs will “sync” with the New FamilySearch. Here’s a snapshot of other news: - Newcomer FamilyPursuit is a Web-based family tree program that aims to make it easy for families to collaborate on recording and researching genealogy. It’s currently in a public beta phase—you can get sneak peek at its features on the Web site, or sign up to become a tester.
- Milennia Corp. is preparing to release version 7 of its Legacy Family Tree software in March. The new edition will add wall charts and source templates, among other features
- GenealogyBank, the subscription Web site for historical newspapers, government records and primary documents, is adding hundreds of Hispanic newspapers to its collection.
- Ancestry DNA, the genetic genealogy arm of data megasite Ancestry.com, will be adding surname groups this spring, along with groups for different geographic locations and haplogroups.
- Add Family Tree and Me to the list of companies offering decorative family tree charts. Owner Shirlene Dymock aims to provide designs elegant enough to display in your living room—see samples of the layouts, backgrounds and frames online.
- Online genealogy TV channel RootsTelevision has now posted all the episodes of both PBS “Ancestors” series. You’ll also be able to catch interviews from the Expo on RootsTelevision.
- Podcaster Lisa Louise Cooke was also busy doing interviews during the Expo. Among the conversations to be featured in upcoming episodes: Richard Black of the Godfrey Memorial Library, Kathy Meade of Swedish church records Web site Genline, and presenter Kathryn Lake Hogan speaking about immigration resources. Visit Genealogy Gems for details on subscribing to this free online radio show.
- Speaking of Swedish records, Meade tipped me off to a recent news story on genealogi.se about a reinterpretation of Swedish law that would allow more-recent church records to be digitized and posted online—shrinking the 100-year waiting period to 70 or 85. Watch this blog for announcements on where and when those records may become available to you.
FamilySearch | Genealogy Events | Genealogy Industry | Genealogy Software | Genealogy Web Sites | Videos
Sunday, February 10, 2008 4:08:17 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
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Thursday, January 03, 2008
The Master Genealogist 7.0 Released
Posted by Diane
Wholly Genes Software has released version 7 of The Master Genealogist, billing it in an announcement as “the most comprehensive family history software on the market.” New features include: - an Associates Window listing all the people connected to the focus person (for example, as witnesses to an event)
- customizable pop-up reminders to aid in data entry
- the ability to make annotations on images
- more-easily customizable sentences in narratives generated from the program
- relationship calculation through spouses
- new filtering and reporting options
The company’s announcement also touts a “long list of interface changes [that] make the program easier to use, especially for novice researchers.” The Master Genealogist is known for its intense orientation to detail which, noted Family Tree Magazine’s April 2002 review of the previous version, resulted in a “steeper learning curve” than other programs. The Master Genealogist comes in two editions: The Gold Edition ($59 for a download; $79.95 for a CD plus 400-page user manual) has some reports and publication tools—including HTML output for Web pages—not in the Silver Edition ($34 download or $39.95 CD). The cost to upgrade depends on the version you own; you can upgrade from version 6.12 for $29.95. TMG 7.0 is compatible with Windows 2000, XP or Vista.
Genealogy Software
Thursday, January 03, 2008 1:47:37 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
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Wednesday, December 12, 2007
PC Magazine Reviews Family Tree Maker 2008
Posted by Diane
Not to beat a dead horse, but has anyone seen PC Magazine’s review of Family Tree Maker 2008? The reviewer, Lisa Reufenacht, gave it four out of five stars (or circles, or whatever those are). You can kinda tell she doesn’t do a lot of genealogy research. The word GEDCOM is nowhere to be found, and she makes no mention of genealogists' uproar over the software’s functionality problems and missing reports. She also notes Family Tree Maker 2008 is the only genealogy program she knows of offering automatic Ancestry.com searching, apparently unaware that’s because both products come from the same company. Of course the PC Magazine review is intended for a general audience, one not necessarily composed of genealogical enthusiasts. “Within 10 minutes, I had a family history … going back to my great-grandparents on my dad's side,” Reufenacht says. “I didn't have to search for any of the information—Family Tree Maker and Ancestry.com did everything for me.” Makes us a little sad to think about users who’ll be at a loss for what to do when Ancestry.com runs out of records (or doesn’t have any) on their ancestors. Though her review focused heavily on the auto-searching, Reufenacht did hit the nail on the head with this one: Used without a $155.40-per-year Ancestry.com subscription, Family Tree Maker loses some its shine. Look for Family Tree Magazine contributing editor Rick Crume’s Family Tree Maker 2008 review—from a genealogist’s perspective—in our March 2008 issue, on newsstands mid-January (note our magazine is not affiliated with the software). You can join the Family Tree Maker 2008 discussion in our Product News and Reviews Forum.
Family Tree Magazine articles | Genealogy Software
Wednesday, December 12, 2007 7:29:34 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
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Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Forget Black Friday: Our CDs now on sale!
Posted by Grace
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, you can be sure that we're now barreling towards shopping season. Personally, I avoid malls like the plague on Black Friday. (Though I do indulge in a little Cyber Monday action.)
If you've got some genealogy buffs on your list (or if you've got yourself on your list), you have to check out our new 2006 and 2007 CDs! Every single page of Family Tree Magazine has been turned into a fully searchable, easily navigable and totally hotlinked product that you can take with you wherever you go. You will never have to type another URL again!
The 2007 CD includes all issues from this year, with articles including how to master the US census, the best family history tools ever, and guides to tracing Civil War and WWI ancestors. Also on the 2007 CD are our exclusive state research guides for Indiana, Maine, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming. (We threw in some extras, too!)
The 2006 CD includes articles on 365 ways to trace your roots, 89 family history freebies, five ways to save time online and genetic genealogy explained in plain English. The 2006 issues include our exclusive state research guides for Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Texas.
The files on the CDs are enhanced PDFs, which you can view with the free program Adobe Reader. (If you don't already have Reader, it's available for download here.)
We editors here at Family Tree Magazine put a lot of sweat into making these CDs, and we think you'll find them as handy as we do! Click here to browse our CDs and order online! (If you prefer not to buy online, we do have alternative shopping options.)
Family Tree Magazine articles | Genealogy Software
Wednesday, November 21, 2007 3:27:56 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
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Wednesday, November 14, 2007
MacFamilyTree 5 Released
Posted by Diane
Synium software has released MacFamilyTree 5, promising a speedier database engine and redesigned user interface. It also integrates a Web hosting service so registered customers can upload their family trees in HTML format for free. The program is compatible with Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) and 10.5 (Leopard). Download it for $49 or pay $25 to upgrade. Symium offered MacFamilyTree in beta starting Oct. 1. We review version 4.5, released in July, in the January 2008 Family Tree Magazine.
Genealogy Software
Wednesday, November 14, 2007 2:03:15 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
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Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Family Tree Maker and Ancestry Press
Posted by Diane
News from The Generations Network about its Family Tree Maker software and AncestryPress service: The company still plans to release a Family Tree Maker 2008 update this month, calling it a “top priority.” It’ll include fixes for program crashes, data corruption, import and merge bugs, Internet corruption issues, and report complaints (version 2008 lacked some reports, including the all-in-one Genealogy Report, from previous versions). Ancestry’s blog also has a long list of users’ desired features and their status (for example, in the October update, being considered for future updates, not being considered). Take a look and let us know if your most fervently wished-for update is there! We’ve heard speculation that some reports were missing from the software because manufacturers were releasing the AncestryPress self-publishing service. It takes information from your Ancestry Family Tree ( which you can create free) or your Family Tree Maker 2008 data (choose to keep it personal if you don’t want it publicly viewable in Ancestry Trees) and creates pages that include illustrated family tree charts, timelines and family group sheets. Then you customize the book with text, images, backgrounds and more. You can print the book from home, making the service free, or have Ancestry print a book up to 100 pages on nice, glossy paper and bind it with a professional-looking cover. The AncestryPress site was irritatingly unhelpful, though, in giving no discernible prices for ordering a book through AncestryPress. I’ve sent off an e-mailed question; I’ll let you know when I hear. You also can keep your book project stored in AncestryPress and invite others to view it online. There’s no way to download it, though.
Genealogy Software | Genealogy Web Sites
Wednesday, October 10, 2007 6:36:38 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Utah Brand Books and Software Try-outs
Posted by Diane
Things just haven’t felt the same lately without a new announcement from FamilySearch, so I was glad to hear these updates: • As part of its records digitization program, FamilySearch has digitized Utah’s historic brand books. You can access the images free at the state archives’ Web site. City slickers may or may not know brand books show the identifying symbols more than 42,000 Utah ranchers branded onto their livestock (ouch!). Ranchers had to register their brands and ear marks with the state agriculture department.  Books from about 1849 to 1930 are digitized, with images linked to a full text search and name index. Each entry in the brand book can include an illustration of the brand, the name and county of the person registering it, registration date, and the location on the animal’s body. • At your next Family History Center (FHC) visit, you can log your finds on its computers using the same commercial software or utility you have at home. Or, you can try out a new program—free. Here are the programs newly available on FHC computers: Genealogy software- Ancestral Quest
- RootsMagic
- Legacy Family Tree
Genealogy utilities
- Personal Historian (helps you write about your family)
- Family Atlas (creates maps based on your family data)
- Map My Family Tree (creates maps based on your family data)
- Genelines (helps you create ancestral timelines)
- Pedigree Analysis (submit your family file for research advice)
- PAFWiz 2.0 (add-on tools for for Personal Ancestral File)
- PAF Insight (performs advanced functions for LDS church members using Personal Ancestral File)
- PAF Companion 5.2 (generates reports for Personal Ancestral File)
Check out the January 2008 Family Tree Magazine, on newsstands Nov. 13, for our software panel test results of four popular programs.
Genealogy Software | Genealogy Web Sites | Libraries and Archives
Tuesday, October 09, 2007 2:17:28 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Family Tree Maker 2008 Service Packs
Posted by Diane
The Generations Network has released a patch called Service Pack 1 to fix performance problems in its recently released Family Tree Maker 2008. The company sent users an e-mail about Service Pack 1; those who’ve registered their programs should’ve received an automatic update notification upon opening the program. If you didn’t, go to Family Tree Maker’s Web site for instructions on downloading the patch. The e-mail message also said The Generations Network will release Service Pack 2 in October to restore several popular report formats from previous Family Tree Maker versions. You can read the full text of the e-mail on Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter blog. Family Tree Maker 2008, a near-complete rewrite of the popular genealogy software, has inspired impassioned commentary from many who've tried it. See what some of them had to say on the FamilyTreeMagazine.com Forum. (PS: I always feel compelled to mention Family Tree Magazine isn't affiliated with Family Tree Maker software.)
Genealogy Software
Wednesday, September 19, 2007 2:56:43 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Monday, August 27, 2007
Genealogy Companies Merge, You Get Free Stuff
Posted by Diane
A genealogy industry merger is resulting in freebies for you. The Israel-based family networking site MyHeritage has finalized its purchase of software and database company Pearl Street Software, and it’s making Pearl Street’s products free. Those include the $29.95 Family Tree Legends software and Family Tree Legends Records Collection, which debuted for $29.95 per year in 2005 with a variety of indexes to military, vital, court, biography and other records. Pearl Street also ran the pedigree site GenCircles, known for its SmartMatching technology that matches up duplicate search results for an ancestor. Lately, as owners looked for a buyer, the company's sites have stagnated and customers have noticed dwindling support services. MyHeritage first made a splash back in 2006 with a facial recognition tool that found users' celebrity look-alikes. More gimmick than anything else, it nonetheless got attention from legions of Web surfers and doubtless padded the site's registered users stat to the current 17 million. (Facial recognition's genealogy application: It could match your uploaded photo of Great-Grandma with one your long-lost cousin submitted.) The just-revamped MyHeritage is now available in 15 languages andhas a free Immersive Family Tree you can use to post your genealogy. Its “Megadex” search will look for surnames in online databases (results link you to the originating site, where you must be a subscriber to access paid content). The new Look-alike Meter shows you which parent a child resembles more. And now you can create a collage of your famous twin. (I was a fan of TV’s recently concluded “ Gilmore Girls,” so imagine my delight with my 83 percent resemblance to the show's Lauren Graham.) GenCircles and Family Tree Legends will remain online for now, but MyHeritage is joining the sites' databases. To access the free software and record collection, visit Family Tree Legends.
Genealogy Industry | Genealogy Software | Genealogy Web Sites
Monday, August 27, 2007 4:00:23 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Wednesday, August 22, 2007
More New Stuff Spotted at FGS
Posted by Diane
We’ve blogged about Federation of Genealogical Societies conference news from FamilySearch, The Generations Network, RootsTelevision and us here at Family Tree Magazine. We also found these new products and services meant to make your genealogical life easier: - World Vital Records has partnered with the National Genealogical Society to provide society management services including member benefits (in the form of World Vital Records subscription discounts), membership renewal processing, online data hosting and a Web platform (on FamilyLink) for member communication.
- Genlighten.com is a not-yet-available service that matches people who have well-defined research tasks that need doing (such as getting an obituary from library microfilm) with experienced—but not necessarily professional—researchers who'll complete them for a fee. Expect a launch by March 2008.
- FacTree from The Genealogy Shop is a Windows utility for entering data into your genealogy software. The theory is, you type data into an online form that approximates the source document, and facTree puts the data in the right format and place in your software. You can try it free with the 1880 census; other facTree forms cost $3.50.
- Ages-Online is a Web-based genealogy program you can access from any Internet-connected computer. It has features similar to traditional software and backs up your data nightly, though not all packages support multimedia files. Subscriptions range from $39.95 (Economy) to $109.95 (Deluxe) per year.
- Several Web sites, such as Geni, Footnote, WeRelate and FamilyLink, have enhanced or added free social networking features that let you upload photos, post research information, build trees and collaborate with other researchers. Watch upcoming issues of Family Tree Magazine for more information on genealogy social networking.
Genealogy Events | Genealogy Industry | Genealogy societies | Genealogy Software | Genealogy Web Sites
Wednesday, August 22, 2007 9:07:03 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Made-Over Family Tree Maker Software Debuts
Posted by Diane
The Generations Network released Family Tree Maker 2008, successor to Family Tree Maker 16, after a brief (and unexpected) beta release period. (The beta version stops working Aug. 24, so export your GEDCOMs now, folks.) The new version got an extreme overhaul from the previous one, with a pretty look and new features including: - An interface that combines elements of a pedigree chart and a family group sheet (here's the family view)
- The ability to merge data from anywhere on the Web into your tree
- Standardized criteria for rating genealogical sources
- A place-name dictionary with more than 3 million locations
- Lists that show people and events associated with a particular place
- Timelines for your ancestors’ lives
- Data imports from other programs, including Personal Ancestral File, The Master Genealogist and Legacy Family Tree
Read what Family Tree Magazine readers thought of the beta software in our online forum. Family Tree Maker 2008 costs $39.95, or $54.95 with The Official Guide to Family Tree Maker 2008. As far as I could tell, an upgrade from Family Tree Maker 16 isn’t available, but we're checking on this. Note Family Tree Magazine is not affiliated with Family Tree Maker software.
Genealogy Software
Tuesday, August 21, 2007 9:04:47 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Saturday, August 18, 2007
FamilySearch starts new records-access project
Posted by Diane
In the next two years, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' FamilySearch will release free online indexes for a long list of genealogical records—150 million images total. Thousands of volunteers are already working fast and furiously on FamilySearch projects to index digitized records, so the church is turning to another source for help with this one: businesses such as The Generations Network, Footnote and others.
For what’s known as the Genesis Project, FamilySearch—the church’s records-scanning arm—has put out a “request for information” seeking interested commercial service providers and records repositories.
FamilySearch will digitize the records, which spokesperson Paul Nauta says is the most expensive part of putting records online, and service providers would index them. Indexes would be free on FamilySearch and on the service provider’s and/or record repository’s Web site.
Targeted record groups include US and British censuses, US county naturalizations, Spanish parish registers, German SS records from the National Archives and Ukraine L’viv church records.
Those entities could choose to charge for access to digitized record images; the images would be free at the LDS church’s Family History Centers.
In other FamilySearch news:
- FamilySearch’s Family History Library, Allen County Public Library and the Brigham Young University Harold B. Lee Library are joining to digitize and index 100,000 books in the libraries’ holdings of local and family histories from all across the country. It’ll be the largest collection of its kind on the Web with free access at the BYU library's site. Read more on FamilySearch.
- Next up for the FamilySearch Indexing Project is the 1930 Mexico Census, Revolutionary War Pensions and Land Warrants, Irish Civil Registration and 1900 US census records for more states.
For more information on FamilySearch records access initiatives, look for the November 2007 Family Tree Magazine, on newsstands and FamilyTreeMagazine.com Sept. 11.
FamilySearch | Genealogy Software | Genealogy Web Sites | Libraries and Archives
Saturday, August 18, 2007 3:39:11 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Free Program Searches Google for Surname Variations
Posted by Diane
Family Tree Magazine author Rick Crume tried out a new, free download for your online genealogy searches. Here's his report: Whenever you discover a new branch on your family tree, you probably head straight to Google for a surname search. You may meet with success, but you could miss out on a discovery if you don’t carefully word your query and consider alternate surname spellings. So Matt Combs, a North Carolina software developer and genealogy aficionado, has targeted both problems with a new free program for Windows called Surname Suggestion List. I downloaded the program and typed in my last name—Crume—and then clicked Search. The program produced 45 name variations in three groups: excellent matches, such as Crume, Crum and Crome; close matches, like Crom, Krum and Groome; and longshots, including Croom and Krom. I clicked on Crume and hit the Google Search button. The program searched Google for Crume and genealogy, producing 9,350 matches, several with extensive genealogical information. Adding more search terms, such as a first name or a place, whittles the matches to the most relevant sites. I added Bardstown, that family’s Kentucky hometown, and got 113 matches. To broaden your Surname Suggestion List search, click the Wider Search button. Then the program searches on ~genealogy, which finds genealogy plus synonyms such as family tree. You also can search on a range of years, but I found that option less useful. You could go directly to Google and search for a last name and genealogy, but the Surname Suggestion List comes up with alternate spellings you might not have thought to check. I’ve come across Crum and Croom in old documents, but I hadn’t considered variations such as Crom, Krum and Groome. Of course, Surname Suggestion List doesn’t necessarily cover every possibility. (In this case, it didn’t suggest Croome or Groom.) And it'd be nice if you could search on more than one name at a time. Still, the program is a very handy tool for Googling your ancestors. —Rick Crume
Genealogy Software | Research Tips
Tuesday, July 31, 2007 9:15:36 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Try Family Tree Maker 2008 in Beta
Posted by Diane
If you're a technologically adventurous genealogist who loves being first to play with the latest gadget, you can give the next incarnation of Family Tree Maker a whirl. Family Tree Maker 2008 is slated for official release in August, but The Generations Network is letting you download a beta version now at beta.familytreemaker.com. (Editorial aside: What's with the erratic version naming? Things were moving along fine with 1 through 11, then we got year names with versions 2005 and 2006, then back to numbers with Family Tree Maker 16, and now we're on version 2008. Is this just to confuse users into thinking they've missed an upgrade?) Files created with the beta version may or may not open in the release version. Among other warnings (it's almost like the genealogical equivalent of bungee jumping): The beta Family Tree Maker 2008 will stop working August 24, so you should export any stored GEDCOMs before then. We hear the program interface is radically different with this release, so we're curious about your thoughts. Post them here or on the FamilyTreeMagazine.com Product News and Reviews Forum.
Genealogy Software
Tuesday, July 10, 2007 5:05:35 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Wednesday, May 23, 2007
News From NGS
Posted by Allison
Where better to hold a genealogy gathering than the backyard of America’s first permanent English colony? For this year’s National Genealogical Society (NGS) conference, last week in Richmond, Va., organizers joined in Jamestown’s 400th anniversary celebration: The keynote session explored virtual resources for studying Jamestown’s history, and a descendant of settler John Rolfe and Pocahontas entertained the banquet audience. With nearby Civil War battlefields, Revolutionary-era sites and Colonial Willliamsburg, Richmond proved a popular location—around 2,000 genealogists reportedly attended the conference this year, up from recent years’ turnout. Those who stopped by the Family History Fair in the Richmond Convention Center learned of new and forthcoming genealogical products and services. If you didn’t make it—or missed the announcements—here’s the scoop: • Visitors to the Family History Library’s booth got a sneak peek at the revamped search interface coming to the FamilySearch Web site. The new system not only integrates information from FamilySearch’s various databases, its results also will link to digitized records—though only a tiny fraction of the library’s vast holdings will be available when the site relaunches this fall. (But more record images will be coming online soon: See “Not-So-Silent Partners.”) Booth workers also showed off the easy-to-use FamilySearch Indexing system—built to help volunteers index the library’s billions of records for eventual online searching. Indexing efforts have ramped up recently; the 1900 census is now in progress (view the list of current projects). • Several software manufacturers demonstrated new versions of genealogy programs. Incline Software’s Ancestral Quest 12, for example, adds the ability to input DNA testing results and a summary screen for each individual in your file, among other improvements. Version 12 costs $29.95, or you can upgrade for $19.95. Incline also showed off version 2 of PAFWiz, a $24.95 companion to the free Personal Ancestral File software. Look for a review of both programs in the November 2007 Family Tree Magazine. • GenSmarts 2, a $29.95 utility that analyzes your data and suggests next steps, lets you save and export your reports to more file formats (including PDF). It also introduces new reports and the ability to analyze only selected parts of your file. If you purchased the program this year, you get a free upgrade—earlier purchasers get a $10 discount. • Ancestry.com staffers previewed a soon-to-come edition of Family Tree Maker, produced by parent company The Generations Network. If you use Family Tree Maker, you can expect a significant makeover in the next upgrade. The company also promoted Ancestry Press, an online service that will automatically create a book from your family tree on Ancestry.com. The biggest news from NGS was the announcement of several partnerships to make more ancestral data and records available to you online—read “Not-So-Silent Partners” for more on this.
Genealogy Events | Genealogy Software | Genealogy Web Sites
Wednesday, May 23, 2007 7:33:49 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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